The annual Bicycle Art exhibit at Denver International Airport is a product of many things: thoughtful curating and creative thinking, for sure, but also tourism, public money, boosterism and a love for the sport of biking.

Whatever makes art happen is OK with me, as long as it allows artists to think independently. For the most part, this exhibit does, though there have to be natural limits to anything that originates as pure promotion. In this case the art is meant to get folks excited about the now-annual USA Pro Challenge, the bike race that will zip across Colorado August 19 through August 25.

The Aspen bike, during installation at DIA. Photo by Evan Semón.

The bikes are displayed on top of the baggage carousels on both the east and west sides of the Jeppesen Terminal. There is one designed for each of the major stops of the race: Aspen/Snowmass, Breckenridge, Steamboat Springs, Beaver Creek, Vail, Loveland, Fort Collins and Denver. Ivar Zeile of Denver’s Plus Gallery (and many other good things) is the curator.